How to Prevent Obesity in Children

According to the American Pediatric Association, 17% of U.S. children ages 2 to 19 are overweight, making obesity seem like an epidemic. The are several key factors that you can implement in order to raise a healthy child and prevent early obesity, which can lead to greater health risks for the rest of their life.

Instructions

• 1

  Develop a plan as a family as to how you can have healthy eating habits. Teach your kids how to eat healthy and let them help plan meals. Let the children help cook. Make it a fun time where everyone pitches in. Watch how proud children are of their accomplishments.

• 2

  Make grocery shopping a fun experience. Children can help make the list and find the items in the grocery store. Put colorful food on the table: green and yellow vegetables plus brown (whole grain) breads. This can be the food that your child helped to pick out.

• 3

  Eat together and make family meals a sharing experience. Talk about your day or plan your next vacation. Great times can be had and shared around a dinner table. Limit eating out; restaurant menus tend to be higher in calories. If you do eat out, make it only for special occasions instead of a weekly event. Talk about what you will eat before you go to the restaurant.

• 4

  Pack your child’s lunch for school. A school lunch of all-beef hot dog on a whole-grain bun, low-fat milk, baked fries and an orange contains 764 calories and 26.9 fat grams, not to mention sodium or sugar intake.

• 5

  Get up and move with your children. Any exercise is a good way to burn calories. Skip, jump rope, play hide and seek. Adding a little exercise into your daily routine and that of your child will always result in a healthier lifestyle.

• 6

  Set an example and make healthy eating a family affair. Children are much more apt to follow your lead. If you are leading a healthy lifestyle then it will be much easier for you to enforce healthy eating habits with your children. By committing to healthy habits as a family, everyone can support and encourage each other. Making small changes now can mean a big difference in everyone’s life and will give your child the best chance of maintaining a healthy weight during their adult years.